Meeting the Jinn

He harshly breathed out through his nose; the warm air turned into a puffy cloud before it quickly vanished. His steps were heavy, the footprints deep and evident in the dark soil as his feet cut through it like butter. He was furious.

This was unexpected. He had not foreseen getting trapped like this. His body sharply turned around as he walked the same distance back, in the same manner; messing up the beautifully cut footprints.

How was he supposed to tackle this matter? How could he lose like this against a human? This was the first time in his life that he had encountered a mere human with this much power!

This human child had been messing around with him for a while now, but he had never been this strong.

“How did he manage to steal my pendant?!” he spat out the fire in his throat; burning one of the many statues in the yard.

He was aware that the human was protected during the night because of the words of protection he recited at sundown. It protected him until dawn, but by then He would be long gone and hidden inside his house until night broke again.

“So, how can it be?! That this mere child broke into my house?!”

He didn’t understand it. He couldn’t have slept with the child on his property. It wasn’t possible. So, how did he not sense his presence? How could this happen?

He turned around and scanned the yard. Nothing seemed out of place; except for the burning statue and the water that had stopped coming out of the fountain. He walked around the fountain, eying his reflection in the still water. There wasn’t a single ripple- it was odd to him. There wasn’t a single bird nearby either.

He touched the water with his fingertips, he concentrated, and soon enough steam started coming out of the water. He didn’t stop until a few drops of water remained.

His eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed.

“I’ll kill him.”

–Decades later –

Sora cheered while she threw her hands in the air; this was the first time since weeks that the brunette was able to go on adventure again. Sora had brought her dog, Monggu, with her. The young adult felt safer with Monggu around even if it only was a cute poodle.

Sora had one destination in mind and that was the abandoned mansion where she was last time. The brunette couldn't wait to go inside. Her camera was fully charged, and ready to take awesome pictures.

To be honest, Sora didn’t believe what the people said about the house. Apparently, it used to belong to one of the richer families in the city. However, one day all five family members vanished without a trail. There had been a search party and several newscasts but none of those ever resulted into anything. Sora didn’t manage to hear all of the juicy details her mom and Rayan had discussed a few days ago, namely because she had initially snuck into the kitchen to pretend she was making tea. But somewhere along she actually got distracted and contently walked out ten minutes later with a huge cup of steaming water.

That put aside, the people of the town soon after made up stories on how they used to see shadows in the garden. And, how the water in the fountain never seemed to dry up even though there wasn’t an apparent source feeding it. How the plants and flowers were taken care of to such extent you’d think the old gardener was still working there (some even claimed the old gardener lost it one night and killed everyone).

Sora knew that couldn’t be true,

because the gardener was her father.

Anyway, when Sora had tried to interview her father about the house he hadn’t been cooperative at all. He dismissed all of the rumors and warned her to not interest her with matters that didn’t concern her.

Typical old man talk.

So bottom line was that the people around the neighborhood said the mansion was haunted and that it was unsafe (and mind you, unwise) to enter the property.

Sora had to admit that she had been a little scared last time with the rustling in the bushes, but the brunette assured herself that it must have been a stray cat that had lost its way.

The young adult had already entered the street where the house was located. She had to be quick and smooth this time, since she didn’t want Umm Rayan to spot her, again. The old lady would surely tell on Sora, and she couldn’t have that. Her parents had already forbidden her to explore around the house, it wouldn’t be good if they found out about her plans.

Sora smiled as she halted in front of the gate. She didn’t have time to research the blueprint of the house (because her father had locked it away safely in his room), so, Sora didn’t know if there was a back entrance. The brunette took a quick peek through the gates and spotted the house was also reachable through a big tree that was located at the back. The said tree wasn’t in the garden it was right next to the walls but the branches of the tree grew over it.

And that, ladies and gents, will be my personal entrance to the house.

The excited brunette made her way to the tree as she thanked God, because it was hidden from sight for outsiders.

Due to lots of trees being planted next to the walls of the garden, which made it seem like a super, tiny forest. Sora let Monggu wait near the trunk of the tree, while she climbed with eas